This invention concerns radiation therapy, especially for treating tissue which may have malignancies, and in particular the invention relates to an applicator for delivering radiation to a vaginal cavity and/or to adjacent tissue post full/partial hysterectomy for surgical treatment of cancer. Treatment of endometrial cancer is encompassed by the invention.
Vaginal or endometrial cancer, or malignancies in adjacent tissues, have been treated by applicator cylinders designed to receive radioactive isotopes. Applicators of this general type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,913,813 and 6,413,204. Even though the applicator cylinders are sized to the vaginal cavity or adjacent anatomy, these types of applicators have often been uncomfortable or painful on insertion and once inserted have failed to provide a good fit. Ideally, the tissue should be positioned closely against the applicator. The conventional applicator can cause discomfort, inconvenience and less than ideal treatment in many cases. Such devices also lack flexibility in dose delivery profile. Basically, prior art applicator cylinders have included a straight lumen down the center through which radioactive seeds were delivered.